Presuming that the MK Team will, in fact, be redeveloping the MK fighting engine for the future generation of consoles, I have put together a simple run-down of what I believe would be a well-balanced kombat engine. I’ve taken some points from TonyTheTiger's thread and a few other threads and applied them to my own analysis.

Basic Gameplay

Each character will be equipped with one unique hand-to-hand fighting style and one unique weapons style.

The hand-to-hand stance will comprise of a basic mapping system - 1, 2, 3 and 4 will each represent one respective type of attack for all characters in the game. This is not the HP, LP, HK, LK engine of old. It as, as was said, a basic mapping system. Each character's four basic attacks will be unique and relevant to their style of fighting. However, each of the four attack buttons will have a universal application to all characters.

For example, all characters will posses a pop-up attack - this pop-up attack will be initiated by pressing Up+3. However, Scorpion's pop-up will not be Bo Rai Cho's. Each character will have a unique pop-up with unique damage, frame advantages and frame disadvantages.

The same applies to, let us say, Attack 1, which will initiate a fast, low-damage attack. Again, Sub-Zero's Attack 1 will not be Kenshi's. They will not each inflict an equal amount of damage. They may not even share the same frame rate. But nevertheless, Attack 1 will be a fast, low-damage attack for all characters. This applies to all four attacks.

The basic idea...

Attack 1 - 10 frames, 4% damage
Attack 2 - 14 frames, 7% damage,
Attack 3 - 22 frames, 12% damage
Attack 4 - 19 frames, 10% damage
Command Throw - 27 frames, 15% damage

Frame rate and damage will be altered appropriately according to each character's weight and speed.

Attack Variations

As with previous engines, pressing, say, Down+2 will initiate a different attack than 2 or Right+2. In this engine, each attack will product a unique result when combined with any of these three possible directions (Right, Down, Left). Up will be combined only with Attack 3, for a pop-up attack. Faster variations will cause less damage. Slower variations will cause more damage.

Again, basic mapping is applied. Down+4 is a global launcher command, however Kira's launcher may cause more or less damage than Hotaru's. It may be faster or slower than Hotaru's. This all depends on the weight and speed of the given characters. This applies to all variations of all attacks.

Again, the basic idea...

Attack 1 - 10 frames, 4% damage
Right+Attack 1 - 9 frames, 3% damage
Down+Attack 1 - 11 frames, 5% damage
Left+Attack 1 - 12 frames, 7% damage

Special Moves

Each character will be equipped with four special moves - defensive characters may have more low specials, while aggressive characters may have more high or mid specials.

Combos

Up to any five attacks or variant attacks may be linked together into a string combo. The damage of any individual attack is decreased the later it comes in the string. If a string consists of only one power attack repeated five times, that power attack's damage will be reduced significantly, moreso than, let us say, a fast punch, a normal kick, and one power attack.

Blocking

Naturally, high blocking and low blocking remains. Blocking carefully allows the defending player to counter hit.

Final Notes

Yep, it's a basic outline... I haven't covered most of the variations of moves or their effects in specific situations, nor have I touched much upon frame advantages and disadvantages... Still, it paints a rough image of what could be done in future MK games.

Your thoughts?